Taking a simple overview of the county, it can be said that Hertfordshire does have the necessary elements for it to become a potentially successful British technopole. However, on closer inspection there is a lot of thought and development which needs to be applied to this basic infrastructure. The education element within the county is a complicated question. It does not have the standing, or arguably the need, to compete with the nearby universities of London, Oxford or Cambridge which have been cited as providing good locational pulling power. If firms like Glaxo will build on their historical presence, and locate at Stevenage to be central to all three, then perhaps a university presence is already catered for. However, without this distinct educational presence contained within the county boundary there is never going to be this over-powering environment of research and innovation such as exists in the French and German examples. There is always going to be the need to look outside the county for additional expertise. The recent government policies have merely made the situation more spatially diverse.
Attention, therefore, could be better concentrated on redirecting the focus of school age training away from the traditional defence industry towards a new sector. I would argue that this could reasonably become the pharmaceutical sector. Instead of grooming school leavers for an engineering career at British Aerospace, more attention could be devoted to sciences such as physics and chemistry creating some of the much sought after laboratory technicians for Glaxo and its pharmaceutical competitors. The relatively strong presence of the natural sciences at the University of Hertfordshire could improve a poor biotechnology representation within the county and, therefore, allow Glaxo to form some of its biotechnology relationships outside the USA. Hertfordshire has proven success in targeting school leavers for its local industries. There is no reason why it should not be equally successful with a different focus. At the moment, according to Goldring (1995);
“The translation o f pure science into workable industrial processes, in other words development, is a key part o f any high-tech country's industrial base.
Atld in bio-technology that is what we are hollowing out - an entire skill base
that we will not have. ” (The Goldring Audit 7/5/95)
It would be an ambitious strategy for Hertfordshire to contemplate attracting bio technology firms, but few exist in this country, (Cambridge has an Australian funded SME). The advantage for the would-be venture capitalists is that a market already
exists within the county. Such a process of development would intensify the
collaboration between firms within the county and would also be of great benefit for the UK economy as a whole. Government support would be forthcoming as it too wants to fill this void. Perhaps this is too ambitious, but it is an interesting thought to contemplate. Nothing can be lost by generating new ideas.
In terms of the business support institutions in Hertfordshire the proactive role of the County Council’s economic development department is a creditable element. It does, however, need to be wary of spreading itself too thinly and confusing the idea of the one-stop shop provided by Business Link at St. Albans. Firms still do not have a clear idea of where to go for specific help, especially for European funding for innovation. Business Link should become the key destination. Its role appears to be very similar to that of the Steinbeis Foundation in Baden-Württemburg, co-ordinating the actions of other business support institutions within the region. With Business Link co ordinating and targeting policy and technological aid there is a bright future for the high-technology population of Hertfordshire. However, the density and scale of these actions need to be intensified over the next few years.
The Innovation and Technology Advisor at Business Link said that he often finds himself isolated in his position due a lack of business development injfrastructure. If future policies and actions can be developed along the lines of the intense network created by the Steinbeis Foundation then the feeling of isolation will become less of a problem. The Chamber of Commerce is a stalwart of the business community, and as such it will always have specific functions to fulfil. There is only scope, I would argue, for increasing the membership of local firms and widening expertise to complement the much needed help with export licenses, for example. It is never
going to be as effective as the German equivalent unless membership can be made compulsory in Britain, as it is there.
The TEC is also a relatively new and useful addition to the range of business support institutions. Its role in-between the traditional educational establishments like the universities and polytechnics, and in-house training, will strengthen the commitment to life-long learning adhered to in the Bright Green Strategy. It is also a co-sponsor of Business Link, in conjunction with the DTI, ensuring close links between the three.
The county, or indeed the DTI Eastern Region, as I described in the previous chapter does not have anything like the density of specialist coverage of technology transfer or innovation facilities of the two European examples. As well as the equivalent institutions to the DTI, the two European examples have additional and powerful institutions specifically targeted at the high-technology industry, i.e. the CRITTs in France and the Steinbeis Foundation in Germany. It is this solid commitment to a regional policy of aiding innovative activity that has developed over recent decades to provide the dense networks of activity crucial to the regions’ success.